in person For the v Mrs M Peckham, solicitor — 2017

The claimant was employed by the respondent as a support worker from 22 December 2014 and was dismissed at the end of her probationary period, with effect from 18 June 2015, after concerns were raised about professional boundaries, a text message to a service user, confidentiality, failure to follow instructions, and communication with colleagues and managers. The claimant pursued claims under s103A ERA 1996 and s15 Equality Act 2010. The tribunal had already decided at a preliminary stage that although the claims were out of time, they could proceed because the whistleblowing claim was presented within such further time as was reasonably practicable and the disability claim was just and equitable to hear.

On the whistleblowing claim, the tribunal rejected the claimant’s account that she made a protected disclosure on 1 May 2015 about the respondent’s licence and housing benefit process being fraudulent. It preferred the evidence of Ms Hartland and found that the claimant did not articulate such a disclosure in the terms alleged, but instead made references to concerns from a previous job. The tribunal also found that the respondent’s procedures were not fraudulent and that the claimant had not shown the reason or principal reason for dismissal was any protected disclosure. It concluded that the dismissal was based on the performance concerns raised during probation and upheld again on appeal.

On the disability claim, the tribunal accepted that the claimant was disabled by depression but found that the respondent did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, of that disability before the dismissal decision on 17 June 2015. It found that the claimant’s communication with colleagues was not something arising from her disability, but rather part of her personality and working style. In any event, the tribunal held that the respondent had legitimate aims in maintaining standards for staff working with vulnerable young people and maintaining an amicable workforce in a pressured environment, and that dismissal was a proportionate response. All claims were dismissed and no remedy was awarded.